New Vietnamese power project breaks ground

Eighty-five percent of the VND22.26 trillion (roughly US$1.15 billion) Nghi Son 1 project will come from Japanese official development assistance with the rest contributed by Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN).

Once fully operational as scheduled by 2014, the two-turbine power plant will generate 3.6 billion kWh annually.

Its first turbine is due to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the second in the second quarter of 2014.

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony in the presence of Japanese Ambassador Mitsuo Sakaba, Dung announced the subsequent construction of the Nghi Son 2 thermal-power plant with a capacity doubling to 1,200 MW following the completion of the first plant.

The two projects would play an important role in meeting Nghi Son Economic Zone's demand for electricity, especially to service a planned oil refinery and production of cement and steel, he said.

This would contribute to the economic development in Thanh Hoa Province and the northern central region as a whole, the government leader emphasised.

He expressed his gratitude to Japan for its official development assistance over the past years which, he said, had made a practical contribution to Viet Nam's socio-economic development and was anticipated to continue in the future.

Dung also inspected the construction sites of the Nghi Son oil refinery and the Nghi Son seaport. Later in the day, the government leader held a working session with authorities of Thanh Hoa Province, focusing on local socio-economic development and solutions to outstanding problems. He recognised the once poverty-stricken province's comprehensive achievement to record a GDP growth rate of 12.3 per cent in the first half of the year, almost double the national average. The government leader pledged to support the province's plan in building a hi-tech park and infrastructure investment in the Nghi Son Economic Zone.